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The Oculus Rift, though still only a development kit and full of half-working tech demos, is something of a cult phenomenon. For just $300, you can experience the closest thing the consumer market has had to in-home virtual reality. Sony appears to have to caught on to the Rift’s hype, and is reportedly working on its own VR headset for the PS4.

Though it seems like virtual reality is only now just within our grasp, this isn’t the case. Rigs like the Oculus Rift, more or less, have been around for quite a while. The Rift’s real achievement is not that it sort of looks like we’re “inside” the (probably broken in some way) demo, but that it’s cheap and not impossible to configure. It wasn’t uncommon for a fancy arcade — when arcades were still a thing — to have multiple VR rigs, complete with motion controllers so you weren’t stuck facing one direction (toward the keyboard and mouse) like you are with the Rift. Once upon a time, twenty years ago, even Sega was developing a VR headset for the Genesis. Nintendo, as you may know, created the Virtual Boy, which famously bombed so hard it’s now an expensive collector’s item. The Oculus Rift, though, was the first device that proved that the tech could work in a consumer setting, and be relatively simple and cheap. Now, perhaps due to all of the confidence gained from the PS4’s continued success in the media compared to the Xbox One, Sony is reportedly developing a VR headset for the upcoming console.

According to Eurogamer sources, Sony is set to reveal a PS4 VR headset sometime during 2014, and it will function similarly to the Oculus Rift. Reportedly, the VR headset is being tested with DriveClub, with players being able to look around the inside of a car by moving their head around in real life. This report holds more weight than it may seem, as DriveClub’s developer, Evolution Studios, has previously worked on 3D software since 2008. Supposedly, the VR headset was to be revealed at Gamescom this year, but as we all now know, that didn’t come to pass. Eurogamer asked Shuhei Yoshida about the VR headset back at Gamescom, to which he replied, “We don’t talk about that,” a phrase that appears to confirm its existence.

If Sony’s VR endeavors don’t pan out, it’s entirely possible the company could simply facilitate Rift compatibility with the PS4 — as could Microsoft, Nintendo, and even Apple and Google with their mobile platforms. However, Sony would greatly benefit from releasing its own VR headset that is specifically made to work with the PS4, as that gives the headset a massive install base right off the bat. Furthermore, Sony is adept at manufacturing and designing hardware — just compare the smaller, more powerful PS4 to the less powerful, much bigger Xbox One. The company also has a history with fancy headsets, such as the HMZ-T2 personal viewer, which essentially makes you feel like you’re watching media on a large movie screen.

We thought Sony packaging a $100 PS Vita with the PS4 would be a killer move, skyrocketing the PS4 to unreachable heights over the Xbox One. However, if Sony could create a consumer-grade (and consumer-affordable) VR headset in the style of the Oculus Rift that works out-of-the-box with every PS4 game, it could present gamers with a very easy choice. Would you rather play Xbox One games on your TV, or would you rather be inside the PS4 game you’re playing? The gaming market hasn’t yet seen an advertising campaign that powerful.

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This is handy only for First Person games, though. Looking at PS3’s track record, stuff like Little Big Planet and Naughty Dog’s entire portfolio wouldn’t suit it all that well.

I can see Killzone and the like taking advantage of it, though.

Frank Lindsey

I agree, it would be great for some games, but might be completely useless for others.

Moofarbubu

Yes, but if done right you’d still want to use it for 3rd person games as well (just without the head-movement part). The HMZ series which is basicly VR without head movement I hear is amazing if it weren’t for the nasty price tag, but the argument was that for some people (single people) you’d might be able to replace “a” TV. It never really replaces all your TV’s though as it’s useless if you have another person, and it looks funny. You need at least one big TV for when you have multiple people around, which is about 80% of us actually. $300 is kind of the maximum for most people though especially since they’re already paying for the PS4 so I have my reservations about this. It will really need to justify a price greater than $300 if I’m to buy it (mostly because I’m poor at the moment).

Jamie MacDonald

The problem I find is that it’s a tool to help immersion, but when you’re a floating camera telling a character what to do, it’s harder to make that immersive – there’ll always be that disconnect available.

Relikk356

“Looking at PS3’s track record”, maybe that’s the point. Xbox 360 is arguably the king of first person shooters. This might be the edge PS4 needs to become the leader. And before i get flamed, they both have great first person shooters. I love Killzone, always have, but Xbox360 seems to have more players who are centered around COD, Halo, and similar games.

Jamie MacDonald

It’s a lot of R&D for a small section of the userbase that will buy it if it’s a peripheral, plus the smaller segment of games that will use it, even if Sony do push for more FPS market share.

cnnm

Sony said its like watching a 100 inch tv screen so its good for all games.. imagine grand theft auto v on a 100 inch tv… beautiful

Jamie MacDonald

Depends, as long as I can see all of it, that would be cool.

100″ at 1080p is a bit crap though.

Ray C

Sometimes the titles of these articles make me not even want to read them. Why is everything a killer of something else?

obfuscationboy

unbiased journalism please.. jesus

Guest

Also, Sony has been working on VR tech for a long time too. There is no ‘me too!’ here. There was a working demo of the tech in 2011 with a headset that looks more or less exactly like this.

They had been mentioning that they were developing this tech in the ‘secret labs’ for a long time, and were more considering proper applications before doing anything with it.

If anything, interest in the Oculus Rift did the marketing research for them — they always had the VR tech. And, quite possibly, could even be better than Rift’s offerings.

wmac

Standard Extremetech procedure: Use mind boggling titles as click bait to attract haters and lovers (and trolls). Click and view is the only thing that matters!

In long term that will dent into the website’s credibility though.

Martin Brentnall

“Every PS4 Game” is a bit of a stretch. Games need to be designed specifically with VR in mind. Third person games aren’t going to work and even first-person only works if the game doesn’t have any third person cutscenes.

I could imagine some innovate ideas though, like a LittleBigPlanet game where you’re sitting in a virtual room containing the level in front of you and you can freely look around the whole level just by moving your head. :)

Jeffrey Alexander

“it’s entirely possible the company could simply facilitate Rift compatibility with the PS4 — as could Microsoft, Nintendo…However, Sony would greatly benefit from releasing its own VR headset that is specifically made to work with the PS4, as that gives the headset a massive install base right off the bat.”

How is that better than a patch? Having compatibility with something that works with PC already has a massive installed base. Further, I fail to see how putting R&D into a VR headset that would be an add-on would be a wise business decision.

To me this is exactly why there’s a 2DS now…lots of people can’t stomach on-screen 3D, let alone full-on VR. It wouldn’t be wide-spread consumer-friendly enough for mass appeal.

Also, why exactly would this be a “killer” function? It’s an add-on, like the first Kinect, meaning only so many companies would give it support and, like 3D on PS3, even if it IS there to use, how many developers outside of Sony want to lower frame-rate or resolution to allow their games to be run on two screens simultaneously?

I have a feeling that is MS or Nintendo was looking into this the title of the article would be more along the lines of “Another failed attempt of (insert competitor) to topple the mighty PlayStation brand”

Techutante

What a lot of people seem to miss is that it’s not VR without movement of some kind, You’re just wearing a screen really close to your eyes. Great. You need something like the Kinect to detect your movement while you are on something like the Omni, so you’re actually immersed. Otherwise it’s still just you on the couch holding your cellphone 3 inches in front of your face and calling it a holo-deck.

Guest

Thats true. I’ve even heard anecdotes of people who tried the Omni and Oculus Rift together saying it’s a totally different experience than just using the Rift alone.

It was noted a few times that playing FPS — when spotting someone with your VR and then trying to track or pursue them felt terrible because the limitations of using a joystick to follow your head were magnified. You felt the severe drag of not having the same responsiveness of a natural physical reaction.

Techutante

If you use your mouse to whip around really fast while you’re wearing VR, like you would normally playing, you will give yourself vertigo and/or nausea. Games are going to have to be redesigned a little bit to be much less twitch-based, and more real-time and life-like. That’s going to feel slow and boring to a lot of people at first, especially if they don’t have the VR-ware for it. Like going from Unreal Tournament to Thief or Dishonored in first person.

Guest

Ah, I’m not really sure how feedback went with professional FPS players etc. I know some ordinary users/testers found it to be pretty overwhelming simulating things like looking off the edge of a cliff feeling dizzy or things like that.

My take on it is just that we’re so used to ‘swiveling’ our head to adjust our vision in conjunction with turning our bodies, so when only one of the two are isolated and paired with a different medium (keyboard/mouse or gamepad) it feels so disconnecting and uncomfortable. We’ve been programmed to turn our heads and feet in harmony.

When we play games — at least all the way until this point, the only things that move is our hands — our heads are fixed on just one area — the monitor. Consumers don’t readily accept change, even moreso depending on the level of discomfort readjusting. Windows 8 and Kinect ‘forced down throats’ are recent examples. I don’t think VR can really start taking off (read: more than just enthusiasts) until the transition can be smoothed over as much as possible… and I’m not sure that it is possible without things like Omni and its future improvements. It’s always about consumer resistance.

Basil Nolan

It will most likely flop. Kinect, though successful, is not widely used. Oculus Rift gained popularity because it was destined to PC geeks who don’t mind dealing with config files and coding.

Even if their VR set use is totally straightforward, who would be willing to buy it? How many developers would feel VR is a must-have feature on their games? It’s just another gimmick, like 3D or Kinect.

And seriously ET, keep journalism in the site and sensationalism behind the letters. The site has grown too biased lately.

VirtualMark

Meanwhile Illumiroom has been cancelled for the Xbox One, thus removing the last reason I had for buying one. :(

Guest

Well, big powerful light projectors like that are quite expensive. On top of that, if you play Xbox daily you may have to change the bulb a few times a year, and those bulbs alone are very expensive as well.

I really think the Illumiroom tech is super cool too, but consumers are too price-conscious to allow it to be successful just yet.

VirtualMark

Yeah it probably is a bit expensive for the average consumer. It would be nice to have the option of buying one though! I thought it looked awesome.

Guest

You can buy a really crappy projector, but thats like middle school math class stuff.

If you want one worthy of the Kinect, it would cost $200 minimum probably. Microsoft could possibly sell one at cost or subsidized, but without a compelling reason to see returns on it (digital sales… of what?) I don’t think they would try.

They’ll probably pitch it to the public again in a few years when a decent projector at a low cost is available.

Phobos

I would take that instead of the crappy Kinect

Dozerman

You seem too be overlooking the appearance of the headset. I doubt many people will want to use it just because of that fact.

Moofarbubu

Actually, I think it’d be cool to have a full helmet rather than just goggles. It’d probably be easier to take on and off, more comfortable, and look a little less out of place. Could be really hot though, the price could go up, and multiple sizes would be a problem so it’s probably unlikely.

Dozerman

I don’t disagree, but I usually game with other people there. Just doesn’t seem too appealing to have this forr a group setting.

Techutante

I have a Rift. It’s somewhat disconcerting to use it with my girlfriend around. I use it with headphones, and it shuts you off from normal reality entirely. Considering the crowd of forever alones out there though, I think that’s hardly a problem. I’m still thinking about applications in a store-like setting to play with it. 4 on 4 VR pvp matches?

Moofarbubu

A simple camera or some kind of easy way to flip a visor up or something wouldn’t be a perfect solution but could still go a long way. Like you said, it’s kind of disconcerting with not just the aesthetics but the fact that people will be messing with you and laughing at you and you won’t even realize it. Unless I was completely alone, I’d be completely paranoid.

Techutante

A corner-box external camera that you can call up with a motion or a button press would be pretty useful. Doesn’t even have to be high res really, could be a cheap webcam.

Freestylar

Actually the image they used is of an old model HMZ-T1 by the looks of it, not even the original “Prototype-SR” from 2011. Very misleading!

The new HMZ-T3 is the basis of what the the “new Prototype-SR” unit would be based off I read somewhere. Here is a link to the T3 as it will look and its Japanese Sony page. Looks much better in my opinion. This however is the T3, not the SR which would have a camera somewhere on it, and its only a rumor I read, but still gives a better idea on how the style may be closer to looking.

Just to note, the Oculus brings something else to the table than just price. The wide angle view it provides is unmatched by any VR gear that has existed in the consumer space (I don’t know if there’s something like it in the professional space, but if there is, it sure costs quite a lot). Sure, we’ve had VR for a while, but it felt like watching a floating TV a few feet away in a dark room. The feeling of actually being inside the game is very different. I’m not denying the low price is a big part of it though.

Techutante

It’s really hard to binge game on. Not even counting you can’t see where you put your drink.

Moofarbubu

This will definitely have it’s problems, particularly in that it’s a strictly solo experience, but IF it was cheap enough and of high quality it might just be a worth the tradeoffs. Frankly, I think the VR experience is just weird, cool, and thrilling, and mind-blowing enough that people will risk being poked and made fun of. If it’s like–someone laughs at you and then you make them try it and they are completely blown away–that kind of experience, and not some simple ooohing and awwing for about 10 minutes like the PS Eye and Kinect, then this will be a huge hit.

Rease Battersby

lol and the above picture being from the movie hackers from the computer called the gibson haha

G-Bats

Would be great for driving games. looking into the Apex of a corner, looking to the mirrors to block a rival. GT5 played around with head tracking and for the most part it worked ok but felt very rusty.

Imagine VR headsets for 1st person horror games, not that hack and slash zombie crap, I mean walking around an abandoned building armed only with a torch… Change my shorts!

DesertDragon

I would have to change everyone’s shorts. My oh my. Just had to comment.

Sloppy

There actually was a virtual reality headset released for the SNES and Genesis. It was called the StuntMaster VR by VictorMaxx. I never owned one, but I heard it totally sucked balls. I did, however, own a Virtual Boy, and that only 90% sucked balls. The other 10% was the game Teleroboxer. That was a legitimately great boxing game that made excellent use of the VR technology. Of course, having to use the Virtual Boy to play it still gave me neck pain and potentially damaged vision… but such are the costs of gaming on the edge!

Daydreamer

I just see 3 large hurtles before something like this goes main stream and becomes widely accepted . . .

Weight . . . Wearing a brick strapped to your face/head gets old fast. For it to be popular, the visor will need to be almost weightless.
Two . . .
Head tracking. True VR implements some type of head-tracking into the VR space to help simulate reality.
And three . . .
It needs to be completely wireless, otherwise you will at some point become entangled in your own cords dispelling the illusion of being somewhere else.

I think it will be many years before we see a capable product.

Joel Detrow

Not necessarily weightless, but it will need to be counterbalanced to feel more like wearing a helmet. The Oculus Rift implements head tracking, so of course Sony’s answer to it would need to. Being completely wireless at this point is absurd – that would add to both its weight and its cost. Gamers have been wearing wired headsets for years and none of them have ever complained about having their immersion broken by the cord. Wearing a VR headset is not exactly conducive to moving around anyway, so just as with headphones, the cord is not an issue.

James Tolson

Awesome, i wanted an oculus rift, but if that comes to ps4 then ill be defo buying one

MR M

HAHAHAAAHAHA lol, this site is a joke. Are you guys serious? VR? Get real dudes, this site is nothing but sony shills.

Phobos

I wish they could talk about games instead of nonsense crap.

Ironmanxrs2

Next up: Sony to include a glove that lets you unleash the power of the console. Sony is coining this as a PowerMitt. to fend of Nintendo litigation.

DesertDragon

Just hope they keep the price down as they did with the PS4. Sony is on the leading edge of gaming for the Gamers. (I know for them also) but I think they will do it. Still love the Glove.

XenoSilvano

VR + Move = Good

zapper

Really good idea. But Sony should keep its prices reasonable and resolution higher.
Time has come for the full HD VR headset.
One free advice , in order to keep its performance higher , try to mimic the design of human eye. In human eye, the resolution is highest in the center and resolution gets lower away from the center. This way, less information is required to be processed because the attention is mainly focused at the center. So this way , efficiency can be increased ,user experience can be increased & prices can be kept lower.

XenoSilvano

What if the player decides to look away from the center, lol, it’d be funny if all they’d see is a pixelated mess.

CDJay

The sort of GPU horsepower to enable this to run properly (we are talking 1080p at 60fps PER EYE) just underlines that these “next-gen” consoles aren’t going to be good enough to facilitate competitive gaming experiences going forward. Even the 1080p rift is “just about good enough”. For massive entire-FOV-filling experiences without visible pixel structure we’re likely to require 4k. At 60hz per eye. Which even ridiculo-PC’s can’t even kind of manage atm. However, in a years time they will be able to. PS4 won’t, and never will. There’s probably an opportunity for Valve, here, all they have to do is put out a 4k-driving “Steam Box” in 2/3 years time, backed up by a massive back catalogue (including most current PS3/360 titles, remember) and which also ties in with a 4k model of the Occulus Rift. It would roundly trounce PS4/XBOne. Trounce being a really kind way of putting it.

John Pombrio

Voice commands and 3D TVs are barely making the cut this year. It will be a decade before VR headsets are really a viable option. FUD move by SONY.

MJ

I have been reading this site for a couple months now, but the constant
bias shown in the articles is getting old. Time to find a more
un-biased tech news site and remove extreme tech from my live feeds.

phodeaux

Having played with VR quite a bit (and own several Oculus Rifts as a dev project), I see one glaring issue with the glasses from Sony so far. Immersion.

Immersion is feeling like you are there. With the Oculus I’ve had people reach out, step back in fright, dodge, and forget where they are. Immersion happens when you have a wide and big screen with great tracking; all these ‘visor’ type jobs just can’t do. It’s always a smaller view at a distance, disassociating yourself from the experience.

lolwutzzzzzz

The elephant in the room is that VR headsets make most people nauseous. Your brain literally freaks out because it’s seeing, hearing and moving around, but your body is for the most part sitting still.

I tried the Rift playing Half-life 2, and had to take off the headset after about 5 minutes. I just felt completely ill in my stomach. Also the Rift’s resolution is very low, and I didn’t find the headset particularly comfortable.

It’s neat to experience in small quantities, but I’ll stick with a big screen and shoving Snackie-Cakes into my mouth. Half of the gaming experience is eating delicious junk food, and feeling sick to the stomach isn’t fun no matter how great the game experience is.

TwinStripeUK

Didn’t this get debunked yesterday?

You are flat out wrong

Nope. They’ll likely be introducing it next year.

Meanwhile, MS still pisses around with Kinect. LMAO. At least they had the good sense to ditch Illuminiroom!

TwinStripeUK

I’m afraid it did – Sony said they’re actually in discussion with Occulus Rift and have therefore shelved the VR headset until they’ve seen how that’s gone. They’ve got the HMZ-T1 and HMZ-T2 still on the books, so even if talks with Occulus fall through, you’ll be lucky to see one next year and even luckier to see one that doesn’t cost more than the PS4!

josh hamer

i put money on this that it wont happen however good idea

Don

Yeah right, people balked at $100 for the kinect camera. $750 for the HMZ-T2!

John

How is this killer? Microsoft has been developing their augmented reality glasses for over a year now probably. This is actually old news to Microsoft. We don’t know what the official name is but people call it “Kinect glasses” and it’s rumored code name is “Project Fortaleza”. Look it up. And since the X1 has Kinect with it it would make sense for Oculus Rigt to develope for that console because of the easier motion control with the Kinect. In fact Microsoft’s “Kinect glasses” are rumored to work closely with the Kinect 2.0

sadfsad

nice fanboy article filled with lots of basless claims. Who let’s these retards into journalism anyway?

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